Companion Quest- Carrie Hope Fletcher

With Series 10 an age away and with the promise of at least one new companion, I thought it would be fun to work through a list of people I think would be a great companion to the Time Lord; I’m in no way saying that they should necessarily be companion to Capaldi’s Doctor, these Companion Quests will just be a list of people I really want to see travel in the TARDIS on a more permanent basis in the future of the show.
My first choice for a future companion is YouTuber, writer, singer, actress and West End star, Carrie Hope Fletcher.

Now for those of you who are unfamiliar with Carrie and her work, she’s most recently starred in Les Misérables as Eponine in the West End, a role which she’s retiring from in mid February; she’s already denied that she’s going to be the new Doctor Who companion in a tweet, but it’s still fun to dream. As well as being a musical icon though, Carrie is also a writer, having her first book, All I Know Now, published last year, with her first fictional work, On The Other Side due for release later this year. How I personally first discovered Carrie though was through her YouTube channel, ItsWayPastMyBedTimewhere she regularly uploads covers of songs, messages to her brother and sister-in-law and creates content aimed at making feel good.

The reason I think that Carrie would be such a great companion to the Doctor is because, much like many of the companions and Doctors before her, she absolutely loves the show. She told her agent that one of her dream jobs is to be the companion in Doctor Who and I reckon she’d be great at it. Whilst Clara was a young woman who had a steady job, Carrie would be the first companion to really resonate with the ‘YouTube generation’ that so many of the fans of the show are also a part of. It would be great that, should Carrie get the role, she’d be able to keep some of her vlogger tendencies in the show; especially if she was from the future where humanity already acknowledges aliens exist. It could even make an episode like Sleep No More more interesting, if there’s a story told entirely from the companions camera as she tries to document her time in the TARDIS.

Another reason that I think Carrie would be a great companion is because to so many young people she is a role model. She advocates individuality and freedom, creativity and chasing your dreams, being a good person and making the world a better place. At the time of writing this, Carrie has over 600,000 subscribers to her YouTube channel, which is a large audience. Imagine what reach she could have if she were on Doctor Who every week; challenging the Doctor with her strong sense of morals, much like Donna did, but with trying to see the best in everyone. A companion that is constantly trying to find the best in people and villains could be a really interesting new direction for a companion, as they try and find compassion in a Cyberman, trying to show a Dalek an emotion other than pure hatred; it could be inspiring to see a companion try and make villains, especially human villains see the error of their ways instead of having them meet an untimely demise or go on to try and conquer the galaxy.

The final reason I feel that a companion such as one that Carrie could play should be in Doctor Who is probably the most tragic and harsh; but I reckon her eventual demise could be as harrowing as Clara’s ‘death’ in Face The Raven, if not more so. A companion that is so nice, who wants to try and see the best in anyone would have to leave the show either with her faith in either the universe or the Doctor in tatters, or with an actual death due to her trying to help the wrong person. I’m aware that should Carrie somehow read this, she might not want to think of her Doctor Who departure, but I can assure you, if done right, it would absolutely be an emotional rollercoaster.

What do you think? Who do you think would be a good companion for the Doctor? Let us know by either commenting below or tweeting us @UtopiaOfGeek.